The Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025 gives gardaí new powers to apply algorithms to images and video to find and categorise people using their biometric data. This is AI-powered surveillance. data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachta...

My message to Ursula von der Leyen in The Guardian this morning: America’s bet on AI is now so gigantic that every MAGA voter’s pension is bound to the bubble’s precarious survival. If she grabs Trump where it hurts, Europe will win this fight. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

‘It’s surreal’: US sanctions lock International Criminal Court judge out of daily life. My interview with Canadian judge Kimberly Prost, who was sanctioned by the US for ruling to authorise an investigation into war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...

I'll be speaking in Brussels tomorrow at the EPC Annual Conference @epc-official.bsky.social epc.eu/events/liber...

European Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath is under tough questioning from Claire McEvoy on the ICCL stage right now

@demconextcd.bsky.social Roisin, congratulations on this new centre! Are you here in the hall?

This is great, from @anandwrites.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...

The year is 3025 Russia is a patchwork of warlord republics that communicate through hacked satellites. China is run by an AI empire. The US hides behind a continental shield wall In Brussels, EU officials meet for the 50,463rd time try to find a definition of economic security

Ex Lithuanian foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis "If you're a European leader asking your team to book you the next flight to Washington to go talk to Daddy, please don’t Not without a plan, not cap in hand, not humiliating us all in front of cameras at the Oval office"

Correction: EC letter to us concerned our earlier complaint against Ireland’s failure to fully transpose the Collective Redress Directive. We have just learned this following clarification sought by the Irish Govt from the EC, then relayed to us by a journalist. The fault for the error is my own.

I’ll be speaking at this in Brussels in two weeks

The European Commission is now digging deeper in to our complaint against Ireland’s process by which Ireland appointed ex-Meta lobbyist as its Data Protection Commissioner www.rte.ie/news/2025/11...

Update: European Commission is starting "pre-infringement dialogue" with Ireland about our complaint against Ireland's process to appoint the new Data Protection Commissioner These "EU Pilot" dialogues occur where the Commission suspects a Member State has broken EU law ec.europa.eu/implementing...

Gutting GDPR would also undermine national security, children’s mental health, and everyone’s privacy. Since we wrote in The Guardian last week about this several European tech CEOs have come out in opposition to the move. This should be no surprise. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Our investigation into Irish Department of Justice use of chatbots. The department hides behind disclaimers while deploying misleading chatbots. @iccl.bsky.social @abeba.bsky.social @johnnyryan.bsky.social www.iccl.ie/news/irish-d...

Leaked docs indicate the European Commission will publish a plan tomorrow to gut the GDPR and amend the AI Act. This will hurt European competitiveness and further advantage US and Chinese tech firms that dominate Europe’s digital market by breaking our law.

I fully endorse this. Political leaders are falling prey to AI hype, and seem to lack any kind of help from reputable sources who could counter the false claims of tech CEOs. Where are their science advisers???

Good reporting by Irish Times’ Jack Power www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025...

European tech CEO warns that European Commission plan to gut the GDPR will harm European SMEs

I don't think the Commission understands how much this attack on the GDPR will hurt innovation done by European companies, and instead cement Google's and Meta's position as the inescapable middle-men and turn our SMEs into their cash-cows. WAKE UP!

Europes Democracy Shield: We needed to see both new measures that would protect democracy against US social media algorithms. Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath did not deliver them. Europe remains largely defenceless. This will cost us. Pic from www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

As we write in The Guardian this morning, the Commission’s plan to gut EU digital rules will hurt Europe’s startups and give U.S. tech an unassailable advantage, confirming Europe as a digital vassal. Piece by George Riekeles and I. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

We write in The Guardian this morning that the Commission’s plan to gut Europe’s digital rules will hurt European startups give U.S. tech an unassailable advantage, confirming Europe as a digital vassal. Piece by George Riekeles and I. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

> "We are saying that progress is moving faster than older forecasts suggested," the Commission said. We're building a tower to the moon and they added loads of floors recently. We'll reach the moon faster than older forecasts. 🤡 Great work @krisshrishak.bsky.social www.rte.ie/news/busines...

Note to political leaders - stop AI overhype. Today's letter from 73 scientists led by my colleague @krisshrishak.bsky.social to Ursula von der Leyen demands that she retract her budget speech non-scientific AI statement that parroted tech CEO hype. www.mlex.com/mlex/article...

European Commission considering big cuts to the GDPR to boost Europe's tech sector. This would a mistake, aiding U.S. and Chinese tech giants at EU firms' expense. www.iccl.ie/digital-data...

European Commission considering big cuts to the GDPR to boost Europe's tech sector. This would a mistake, aiding U.S. and Chinese tech giants at EU firms' expense. www.iccl.ie/digital-data...

Draghi handed U.S. tech giants a gift

Big story from Sky news. It is a mistake to think the DSA alone is going to fix this. This requires more, including and most particularly enforcement of GDPR Art 9 news.sky.com/story/the-x-...

The latest news about the Commission's proposals on consent banners is all a distraction. Consent notices are a form of compliance theatre. Online advertising is largely a data free-for-all. The industry introduced consent notices in 2018 as a thin veneer to cover the vast underlying data breach.

Another chilling investigation results regarding data brokers and real-time bidding highlighting how real-time bidding is not only a general data protection issue, but also poses serious national security threats. netzpolitik.org/2025/databro...

BREAKING: Yesterday Grand Theft Auto VI maker Rockstar Games fired dozens of people, all of whom were involved in union efforts. A British union calls it "blatant and ruthless" union-busting. Take-Two Interactive says it was due to misconduct. Here's the scoop: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

If you are a parent of a TikTok user under 16 we want to hear from you. Please DM.

Note to Clare O'Donoghue Velikic: I agree industry experience is valuable, and am an industry defector But the DPC ex-Meta appointee is likely legally bound to make no criticism of Meta, like Sarah Wynn-Williams Also the complaint is against the process, not the person www.bbc.com/news/article...

Exactly. Ireland needs a Plan B. @bentonra.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...

This seems an u nreasonable request, no?

Lobbying for tech is booming corporateeurope.org/en/2025/10/b...

Euractiv's @claudiemoreau.bsky.social on our complaint to the European Commission against Ireland's appointing ex-Meta lobbyist as its new Data Protection Commissioner www.euractiv.com/news/complai...

Coverage of our complaint to the European Commission v Ireland over appointment of ex-Meta lobbyist as data protection watchdog www.rte.ie/news/busines...

Our complaint v Ireland is in the FT newsletter this morning Details of complaint --> www.iccl.ie/digital-data...

We filled a complaint against Ireland to the European Commission today. Ireland has appointed an ex-Meta lobbyist as its new Data Protection Commissioner. This will be interpreted by the tech industry as a signal of impunity. The European Commission must intervene. www.iccl.ie/digital-data...

The question of this moment is whether Europe will be a bastion of democratic resilience or a vassal. My piece in Tech Policy Press. www.techpolicy.press/europe-isnt-...

Shock in Brussels and outrage across civil society. This story is not going away. euobserver.com/digital/ar6c...

Our second "Pay or OK" paper for EU watchdogs: not only does the law say "no" to forced consent; the business case is terrible, too. Publishers and advertisers will lose if users are forced to consent to the RTB & adtech data free-for-all. www.iccl.ie/digital-data...

Is it legal for publishers to force you to "consent" to a data free-for-all as payment for entering their sites & apps? No. Over the summer we have been talking to EU data watchdogs, detailing the case law and enforcement decisions. www.iccl.ie/digital-data...

Irish Justice Minister: "The sale of data by Real-Time Bidding platforms is NOT ILLEGAL..." This is wild. There is no way RTB data sale is legal as it currently operated. www.kildarestreet.com/wrans/?id=20...

Irish Justice Minister: "The sale of data by Real-Time Bidding platforms is not illegal..." Question from @ivanabacik.bsky.social was: does the State buy RTB location data. This is wild! There is no way RTB data sale is legal as it currently operated. www.kildarestreet.com/wrans/?id=20...

Note for Irish Department of Finance: you should have a plan for what you will do if/when AI bursts and the large tech firms ask for massive bail outs/collapse

‘is europe going to be a beacon of democratic resilience - or a vassal.’ - @johnnyryan.bsky.social on *the* question facing european leaders at @article19.bsky.social @openmarkets.bsky.social conference

@tomjwright.bsky.social it was great to see you Tom. Two pieces that may be of interest www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...